Norristown man sentenced in 2012 shootout

COURTHOUSE — A Norristown man who pleaded guilty in October to tying up a woman and helping to hold her hostage before a shootout on the 300 block Moore Street in 2012 was sentenced Friday to time served to 23 months in prison.

Shawn Kyle Thomaston, 32, was released from prison in April, according to court documents. He was not given any additional probation. Court documents show Thomaston was in jail from Aug. 17, 2012 to April 4, 2014. Prosecuting attorney Matthew Quigg said Thomaston is out of jail now.

“He tied the female victim up at gunpoint by Terrance Ferguson. Terrance Ferguson said tie her up and Terrance Ferguson had a gun,” Quigg said.

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Part of Thomaston’s guilty plea in October included testifying against Terrance and Kenneth Ferguson at trial. However, both men took plea agreements with the district attorney’s office in March and did not go to trial. In October, Thomaston pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful restraint and two counts of criminal conspiracy. Several other charges including attempted murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping and other counts of criminal conspiracy were withdrawn at sentencing.

An investigation began on Aug. 7, 2012 at 4:30 a.m. when Norristown police responded to the 300 block of East Moore Street for a report of a shooting. When police arrived they found a man lying on the sidewalk suffering from gunshot wounds, and a woman locked in the trunk of a black Mazda. The affidavit of probable cause states that the woman’s hands were tied with shoestring and she was bleeding from her face. A handgun was found in the trunk next to her. Police noted the Mazda had several bullet holes on the passenger side. The male victim was taken to the hospital.

Shortly after police arrived, they saw several shell casings in the front of a home on the block. Police saw the glass window of the door was shattered. When police went inside the home they found three men and one woman. Two of the men, Kenneth and Terrance Ferguson, were on the ground with gunshot wounds. The third man was identified as Thomaston and the woman was identified as Shenequa Tensely. The Ferguson brothers were taken to the hospital to be treated for their gunshot wounds and Tensley and Thomaston were taken to the Norristown police station.

After being released from the hospital, the female victim told police that she was in a relationship with the male victim for about five months. She said at midnight on Aug. 7 Tensley began calling her phone repeatedly. Tensley kept asking the victim where her boyfriend was, and the female victim said she did not know. She said after several phone calls Tensley asked her to come to her house and to bring a cigarette. The female victim told police that when she arrived at Tensley’s house on the 300 block of Moore Street she was grabbed by a man with dreadlocks, who would later be identified as Kenneth Ferguson, who made her sit on a couch. She said he began yelling at her and said he wanted his money. Another male, who was later identified as Terrance Ferguson, also yelled at her and said her boyfriend — the male victim — owed him $22,000. She said the second man pistol whipped her twice before telling another man, later identified as Thomaston, to tie her up.

She said the men called her boyfriend several times and when he finally picked up they said, “You know what time it is? We got your ‘expletive.’ ” She said they told the male victim that if he didn’t bring them their money in 15 minutes they would kill his girlfriend. She said after an unknown period of time they brought her out to the car and forced her in the trunk. She said the male with the dreadlocks put a gun next to her in the trunk and then said the group was going to shoot her. The victim told police the next thing she heard was gunfire and when the gunfire stopped, she was let out of the trunk by a police officer.

Thomaston was the last of the group of four to be sentenced for the attempted kidnapping. According to a previous report in The Times Herald, Terrance Ferguson, 34 of Philadelphia, was sentenced to time served and three years of probation in March. His brother Kenneth, 41, also of Philadelphia, was given the same sentence. Tensley, 40, of Norristown, was sentenced to three years of probation in April, according to online court documents.